Tea at Trianon: A History of Deodorant

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, September 1, 2018

A History of Deodorant

Everything has its history. From The Irish Examiner:

The ancient Egyptians daubed their armpits with spices and citrus oils, and trimmed underarm hair to reduce the smelly surface area. They were also very fussy about changing their underwear regularly. Tutankhamun was entombed with 145 spare loincloths – quite a supply for his journey into the afterlife. Richer Greeks washed in bathtubs: Archimedes famously jumped out of his, shouting “Eureka”. Poorer folk used wells for washing. Public bathhouses were introduced by the Romans. The entrance charge was cheap enough for all citizens to afford. After a good soaking, they would rake off sweat with a metal scraper and anoint their bodies with oil – jasmine, rose, iris, lavender, violet. The wealthiest men and women took baths in perfume at home, soaked their clothes in it, even perfumed their horses and household pets. (Read more.)